Ward Anderson

SiriusXM Talk Radio Host, Author, Comedian

Ward Anderson is an award-winning comedian, author, director, and host of the SiriusXM talk radio program "Ward and Al". He has performed all over the world, for tens of thousands of people, in a career that has spanned almost two decades and across several different platforms. He has appeared on such TV programs as MuchMusic's Video on Trial, Breakfast Television, and numerous other talk shows, as well as on his own stand-up TV special. He is also an award-winning commercial and music video director, and a Canadian Comedy Award nominee. Currently, Anderson is one half of the radio talk show "Ward and Al", with comedian Allison Dore. Heard on SiriusXM's "Canada Talks" channel, "Ward and Al" can be heard every Monday through Friday, 10am to 12pm Eastern Standard Time. Anderson's first novel, I'll Be Here All Week, will be released by Kensington Books in spring 2014.

Our grandparents believed a person wasn't their job. They didn't live to work. They wanted a work day that ended on time and a job they didn't take home with them. Now we thumb our noses at the people we depend upon every day, as if they somehow are beneath us because of the jobs we need them to do. We talk about how these are jobs for teenagers, despite the fact that -- much like older people did these jobs 50 years ago -- the average age of a fast food worker is 29. We now act as if not having the highest ambition is somehow deserving of poverty.

Hard to believe it's been over thirty years since one of the greatest moments in bad ideas. Yes, way back in April, 1985, we welcomed into this world a little gem known today as "New Coke." It seems c...

For people who are still wondering "how did this happen," do not waste precious time trying to figure out the voters. Look no further than your TV and at your local newspaper. There was news to be reported, but the media was more interested in a soap opera. They were the real drivers of the "clown car" this year.

Somewhere in the past 20 years or so, Americans started repeating a false narrative. The myth was about there always being "two sides to every story" and that -- because of that belief -- the media was responsible for always showing both sides. But that's simply not the case. By making mindless arguing over every single issue the norm, cable news has convinced a misinformed public that the facts are whatever is said by the person who screams the loudest.

There is something to be said about breaking the rules. As someone who, for so much of his life, did things by the book, I never thought I'd owe so much of my success to doing everything the wrong way...

With the entire continent engaged in some of the most polarizing politics seen in decades, everyone seems to have one thing in common: Everyone thinks people these days are too easily offended. But they aren't. They're no different than they've ever been. And, as for political correctness, it doesn't exist.

If you've ever known anyone who has lost their hair due to cancer treatment, you already know how disheartening and dehumanizing it can be. The No Hair Selfie campaign seeks to show support to the people going through that battle with a little cleverness and a tiny smirk on the side.

We set a dangerous precedent when we give tens of millions of views to videos so obviously phony as that one. We make it worse when we then invite the people who make them to go on TV and pretend they're somehow authentic. We wind up telling people that simply being a jerk is a viable talent to be paraded around.

With a toddler running around my house these days, I find myself looking back over the years and thinking of all I've learned in my four-plus decades on this planet. Since I turned 40, I've started making lists I can maybe pass her way one day. Here's 42 things I've learned at 42.

The argument about guns in America is a pointless one because, frankly, the pro-gun lobby won the debate many years ago. Like that Japanese soldier living on an island for decades, unaware that WWII was long over, the anti-gun crowd continues to fight a battle that it already lost. Americans long ago made up their minds in regards to guns. They want to keep guns and it is likely that no tragedy is great enough to change that fact. Not even a little bit. In fact, Americans not only want to keep their guns, they want to change very little in regards to how they keep them, how they get them, or what they do with them.

It's that time in your life when summer seemed to last for six months and the school year seemed to last fourteen. And when your heart raced like crazy when you saw that girl you had a crush on from all the way across the gym. I'm talking, of course, about 1985. Let's open up the time capsule and look back on the Billboard Top 5 hits this week thirty years ago.

The same people who protested The Dixie Chicks are some of the same people moaning about the unfairness heaped upon this little pizzeria in Indiana. People get the "Free Speech" argument wrong all the time. It is not, nor has it ever been, a license to say whatever you want, free of consequence. It doesn't remotely mean that everyone has to shrug and simply ignore or accept what you say. And it doesn't mean you're free from financial ruin if you say something that incites public backlash.

Yes, it's been 25 years since I was an awkward teenager, screaming pop ballads out my car window on the way to my job at K-Mart. Like many people, the songs of my teen years hold a special place in my heart. So this week I'm taking the Delorean to 1990 and remembering what the Top Five Songs were on Billboard's Top 100 chart this week way back when.

Up on the rooftop, reindeer pause. Out jumps...well, you know who. Whenever Christmas gets close, children of all ages eagerly await the return of Santa Claus. Known by many names all over the world, Father Christmas is one of the most lasting figures in history. He's everything from a mythical father figure to a kick-ass salesman of soft drinks. Here are a few random facts about the jolly old one.

You'd better watch out. Why? Because Santa Claus is coming to town. There are very few popular Christmas songs that have not been turned into TV specials or movies. Below are five random facts about some that might just be on your "Best Of" list every year.

It's a Wonderful Life was originally to be released in January, 1947. Besides taking place around Christmastime, the movie is not actually a Christmas film. Frank Capra and the Columbia Pictures were so confident that the public would love the flick, however, that they moved the release date up to December 1946, hoping it would fare better for an Oscar Award.

I'm not just a casual fan of A Christmas Carol, the classic Dickens novel. I can be a bit picky. I've been a big fan of the novel most of my life, and tend to catch as many interpretations as I can every holiday season. Here are five great versions thus far.

People will defend to the death their love of the very same thing I despise. I have no doubt that people are already lining up to praise heaps of sugary love on that "Shoes" tune, since nothing says Christmas like the emptiness that comes when the parent succumbs to death. Still, I stand by my disliking of each of these songs as much as I stand by my love for "A Holly, Jolly Christmas".